pause

• POS: Noun, Verb (intransitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

pause, n. [F., fr. L. pausa. See Pose.].

•  A temporary stop or rest; an intermission of action; interruption; suspension; cessation.  [1913 Webster]
•  Temporary inaction or waiting; hesitation; suspence; doubt.  [1913 Webster]

  "I stand in pause where I shall first begin."  [1913 Webster]
•  In speaking or reading aloud, a brief arrest or suspension of voice, to indicate the limits and relations of sentences and their parts.  [1913 Webster]
•  In writing and printing, a mark indicating the place and nature of an arrest of voice in reading; a punctuation point; as, teach the pupil to mind the pauses.  [1913 Webster]
•  A break or paragraph in writing.  [1913 Webster]

  "He writes with warmth, which usually neglects method, and those partitions and pauses which men educated in schools observe."  [1913 Webster]
•  A hold. See 4th Hold, 7.  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- Stop; cessation; suspension.

pause, v. i. [Cf. F. pauser, L. pausare. See Pause, n., Pose.].

•  To make a short stop; to cease for a time; to intermit speaking or acting; to stop; to wait; to rest.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

  "Pausing a while, thus to herself she mused."  [1913 Webster]
•  To be intermitted; to cease; as, the music pauses.  [1913 Webster]
•  To hesitate; to hold back; to delay.  [1913 Webster]

  "Why doth the Jew pause? Take thy forfeiture."  [1913 Webster]
•  To stop in order to consider; hence, to consider; to reflect.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

To pause upon, to deliberate concerning. Shak.

Syn. -- To intermit; stop; stay; wait; delay; tarry; hesitate; demur.

pause, v. t. 

 To cause to stop or rest; -- used reflexively.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

pause, n. & v.
--n.
1 an interval of inaction, esp. when due to hesitation; a temporary stop.
2 a break in speaking or reading; a silence.
3 Mus. a mark (3! 3!) over a note or rest that is to be lengthened by an unspecified amount.
--v.intr.
1 make a pause; wait.
2 (usu. foll. by upon) linger over (a word etc.).

Idiom

give pause to cause (a person) to hesitate.

Etymology

ME f. OF pause or L pausa f. Gk pausis f. pauo stop

THESAURUS

pause

abeyance, accent, accent mark, afterthought, back down, balance, bar, bashfulness, bind, blench, block, blockage, boggle, boggling, boundary, breach, break, breath, breathe, breather, breathing place, breathing space, breathing spell, breathing time, breve rest, bureaucratic delay, caesura, call a break, call a recess, call time, cancel, cease-fire, cessation, character, cigarette break, clause boundary, clause terminal, close juncture, cocktail hour, coffee break, colon, comma, compunction, custos, day off, debate, declare a recess, delay, delayage, delayed reaction, deliberate, demur, demurral, detention, diffidence, direct, discontinuance, discontinuation, discontinue, discontinuity, dot, double take, downtime, dragging, drop, eighth rest, enforced respite, expression mark, falling terminal, falter, faltering, fear, fermata, fight shy of, fissure, flinch, gap, half rest, half time, half-time intermission, halt, hang back, hang off, hang-up, happy hour, have qualms, hem and haw, hesitance, hesitancy, hesitate, hesitation, hiatus, hindrance, hold, hold off, hold up, hold-up, holdup, holiday, hover, hum and haw, interim, interlude, intermezzo, intermission, intermit, intermittence, interregnum, interrupt, interruption, interval, intervene, jam, jib, juncture, key signature, knock off, lacuna, lag, lagging, lapse, lay off, layoff, lead, let up, letup, ligature, logjam, lull, make bones about, mark, mark time, measure, metronomic mark, minim, modesty, moratorium, notation, objection, obstruction, off-time, open juncture, paperasserie, period, plateau, point, point of repose, ponder, presa, protest, pull back, quail, qualm, qualm of conscience, qualmishness, quarter rest, quiet spell, recess, recoil, red tape, red-tapeism, red-tapery, relief, remission, reprieve, respite, rest, resting point, retardance, retardation, retreat, rising terminal, sandhi, scruple, scrupulosity, scrupulousness, segno, semicolon, shilly-shally, shrink, shrinking, shy, shy at, shyness, sign, signature, sixteenth rest, slow-up, slowdown, slowness, slur, spell, stand-down, stay, stay of execution, stick at, stickle, stickling, stop, stop for breath, stop to consider, stoppage, straddle the fence, strain, strain at, surcease, suspend, suspension, swell, symbol, take a break, take a recess, take a rest, take five, take ten, take time out, tea break, tempo mark, terminal, think twice about, tie, tie-up, time lag, time off, time out, time signature, truce, vacation, vinculum, wait, waver, wince, withdraw, word boundary, yield

ROGET THESAURUS

pause

Irresolution

VB be irresolute, hang in suspense, keep in suspense, leave "ad referendum", think twice about, pause, dawdle, remain neuter, dillydally, hesitate, boggle, hover, dacker, hum and haw, demur, not know one's own mind, debate, balance, dally with, coquet with, will and will not, chaser-balancer, go halfway, compromise, make a compromise, be thrown off one's balance, stagger like a drunken man, be afraid, let 'I dare not' wait upon 'I would', falter, waver vacillate, change, retract, fluctuate, pendulate, alternate, keep off and on, play fast and loose, blow hot and cold, shuffle, palter, blink, trim.

Inaction

VB not do, not act, not attempt, be inactive, abstain from doing, do nothing, hold, spare, not stir, not move, not lift a finger, not lift a foot, not lift a peg, fold one's arms, fold one's hands, leave alone, let alone, let be, let pass, let things take their course, let it have its way, let well alone, let well enough alone, quieta non movere, stare super antiquas vias, rest and be thankful, live and let live, lie rest upon one's oars, laisser aller, faire, stand aloof, refrain, keep oneself from doing, remit one's efforts, relax one's efforts, desist, stop, pause, wait, lie in wait, bide one's time, take time, tide it over, cool one's heels, kick one's heels, while away the time, while away tedious hours, pass the time, fill up the time, beguile the time, talk against time, let the grass grow under one's feet, waste time, lie by, lie on the shelf, lie in ordinary, lie idle, lie to, lie fallow, keep quiet, slug, have nothing to do, whistle for want of thought, undo, do away with, take down, take to pieces, destroy.

Repose

N repose, rest, silken repose, sleep, relaxation, breathing time, halt, stay, pause, respite, day of rest, dies non, Sabbath, Lord's day, holiday, red-letter day, vacation, recess, reposing, relaxed, unstrained, unstressed, at rest, The best of men have ever loved repose, to repair our nature with comforting repose.

VB repose, rest, rest and be thankful, take a rest, take one's ease, take it easy, relax, unbend, slacken, take breath, rest upon one's oars, pause, stay one's hand, lie down, recline, recline on a bed of down, recline on an easy chair, go to rest, go to bed, go to sleep, take a holiday, shut up shop, lie fallow.

Discontinuity

VB be discontinuous, alternate, intermit, sputter, stop and start, hesitate, discontinue, pause, interrupt, intervene, break, break in upon, break off, interpose, break the thread, snap the thread, disconnect, dissever.

Lateness

N lateness, tardiness, delay, delation, cunctation, procrastination, deferring, deferral, postponement, adjournment, prorogation, retardation, respite, pause, reprieve, stay of execution, protraction, prolongation, Fabian policy, medecine expectante, chancery suit, federal case, leeway, high time, moratorium, holdover, late, tardy, slow, behindhand, serotine, belated, postliminious, posthumous, backward, unpunctual, untimely, delayed, postponed, dilatory, delayed, in abeyance, late, lateward, backward, late in the day, at sunset, at the eleventh hour, at length, at last, ultimately, after time, behind time, after the deadline, too late, too late for, slowly, leisurely, deliberately, at one's leisure, ex post facto, sine die, nonum prematur in annum, against the sunbeams serotine and lucent, ie meglio tardi che mai, deliberando saepe perit occasio.

Cessation

N cessation, discontinuance, desistance, desinence, intermission, remission, suspense, suspension, interruption, stop, stopping, closure, stoppage, halt, arrival, pause, rest, lull, respite, truce, drop, interregnum, abeyance, cloture, dead stop, dead stand, dead lock, finis, cerrado, blowout, burnout, meltdown, disintegration, comma, colon, semicolon, period, full stop, end, death, I pause for a reply.

VB cease, discontinue, desist, stay, halt, break off, leave off, hold, stop, pull up, stop short, stick, hang fire, halt, pause, rest, burn out, blow out, melt down, have done with, give over, surcease, shut up shop, give up, hold one's hand, stay one's hand, rest on one's oars repose on one's laurels, come to a stand, come to a standstill, come to a deadlock, come to a full stop, arrive, go out, die away, wear away, wear off, pass away, be at an end, disintegrate, self-destruct, intromit, interrupt, suspend, interpel, intermit, remit, put an end to, put a stop to, put a period to, derail, turn off, switch off, power down, deactivate, disconnect, bring to a stand, bring to a standstill, stop, cut short, arrest, stem the tide, stem the torrent, pull the check-string, pull the plug on, Int, hold!, stop!, enough!, avast!, have done!, a truce to!, soft!, leave off!, tenez!.

Quiescence

N quiescence, rest, stillness, quiescence, stagnation, stagnancy, fixity, immobility, catalepsy, indisturbance, quietism, quiet, tranquility, calm, repose, peace, dead calm, anticyclone, statue-like repose, silence, not a breath of air, not a mouse stirring, sleep, pause, lull, stand still, standing still, lock, dead lock, dead stop, dead stand, full stop, fix, embargo, resting place, gite, bivouac, home, pillow, haven, goal, quiescent, still, motionless, moveless, fixed, stationary, immotile, at rest at a stand, at a standstill, at anchor, stock, still, standing still, sedentary, untraveled, stay-at-home, becalmed, stagnant, quiet, unmoved, undisturbed, unruffled, calm, restful, cataleptic, immovable, sleeping, silent, still as a statue, still as a post, still as a mouse, still as death, vegetative, vegetating, at a stand, tout court, at the halt, Int, stop!, stay!, avast!, halt!, hold hard!, whoa!, hold!, sabr karo!, requiescat in pace, Deus nobis haec otia fecit, the noonday quiet holds the hill.

VB be quiescent, stand still, lie still, keep quiet, repose, hold the breath, remain, stay, stand, lie to, ride at anchor, remain in situ, tarry, mark time, bring to, heave to, lay to, pull up, draw up, hold, halt, stop, stop short, rest, pause, anchor, cast to an anchor, come to an anchor, rest on one's oars, repose on one's laurels, take breath, stop, stagnate, quieta non movere, let alone, abide, rest and be thankful, keep within doors, stay at home, go to bed, dwell, settle, alight, stick, stick fast, stand like a post, not stir a peg, not stir a step, be at a stand, quell, becalm, hush, stay, lull to sleep, lay an embargo on.

Doubt

VB disbelieve, discredit, not believe, misbelieve, refuse to admit, refuse to believe, doubt, be doubtful, doubt the truth of, be skeptical as to, diffide, distrust, mistrust, suspect, smoke, scent, smell a rat, have doubts, harbor doubts, entertain doubts, suspicions, have one's doubts, demure, stick at, pause, hesitate, scruple, stop to consider, waver, hang in suspense, hang in doubt, throw doubt upon, raise a question, bring in, call in question, question, challenge, dispute, deny, cavil, cause a doubt, raise a doubt, start a doubt, suggest a doubt, awake a doubt, make suspicion, ergotize, startle, stagger, shake one's faith, shake one's belief, stagger one's faith, stagger one's belief.